C3Todd

Started the 1970 l46 (factory 350) as normal this morning. Started fine as it has since I’ve owned it. Decided to replace the rotor and cap, as well as the spark plugs. Buttoned it all back up and went to start it. Nothing. No clock power, no dome lights...nothing. Pulled battery and tested it. Test came back good.

Got underneath and checked wires to the starter and all looks good there. I don’t see any fused links from the starter, or to the starter, although I may not know what I’m looking at.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated. For the life of me I cannot figure out how changing a cap, rotor and plugs would cause such an issue.

jpatrick62

Assuming your 1970 wiring diagram is similar to my '69's....
Do you have power at the red wire on the starter solenoid (12.9V+ to GND)? If so, do you have power at the red wire on the horn horn relay? There may have been a previous "splice" that you may inadvertently broken. If you have a wiring diagram you will see what I'm getting at.

C3Todd

Thanks for the input. I checked the large red wire at the starter....no power there. No power at red wire into the horn relay either. If I had any hair, I would be pulling it out.

CheezMoe

There should be a fusible link at the solenoid end of that connection. You've either burnt' that or have a problem at the horn relay.
Good Luck!

derekderek

are you sure you have no power? what you using for ground? top of neg post on battery? or anywhere downstream? did you check the frame end of negative batt terminal? right near pumpkin straight under battery. does it look like this?

jpatrick62

According to the wiring diagram, the battery lead and the red wire at the solenoid are connected together. Are you SURE that you have a good ground to test this point at? From what you describe, I would assume the culprit to be the
red wire from the solenoid - this splits off to a black wire that feeds the wiper motor connector block and a red wire that feeds the horn relay and key buzzer.

C3Todd

Derek, Mine looks similar. I’ll get under the car tomorrow and run downstream to better understand where the problem may be. I have been using grounds throughout the engine compartment and one of those test lights that is like an ice pick with a small bulb inside. I don’t own or know how to use a proper meter.

C3Todd

Thanks JPatrick, I’ll get under there again tomorrow and have a look. The wires are all wrapped in insulating type tubes so it’s been difficult to make headway, especially near the wiper motor. I figured that if I did anything to directly cause this, it was when I was installing the new distributor cap. So that’s where I have been spending most of my time.

jpatrick62

If there was a splice in the area you were working on, it's a good bet to check there first. I know personally of these wiring demons as I have chased half a dozen myself since one of the last owners chose to just wrap wires together and then use electrical tape. Without a connector or solder these connections work loose with all the vibrations and motions of the car movement. Make sure you have a good ground (you can unhook the neg lead form the battery and, if you have a long test wire do a resistance test from your ground point to the lead to ensure a good path - just remember to hook the neg terminal back up after you are done.) and with a VOM you can track down anything. Hopefully you have a decent wiring diagram - that's key in these cases...

derekderek

that pic is my 75. no power. occasionally a lamp would light. don't eff with it, replace it. they used a too-flimsy connector on the frame end and the wire is white with corrosion for about 6 inches. the grommet thru batt box is a PITA. new cable and it fired right up. using a lawn mower battery!

C3Todd

Thanks for the help everyone. I got the car up on jack-stands and attached the ground of my tester to where the negative terminal attaches to the frame. It looks like ground cable was already replaced. Found power at the red wire leaving the solenoid. Apparently my ground wasn’t good where I had attached/clipped it yesterday. Traced power downstream until I got up near the distributor cap. As I was removing gobs of electrical tape to further my research, I saw that the cargo area lamp was on. All was dead yesterday. I have a broken wire that will now need replacement.

At at least I found the issue.

Again, thank you very much for the input! I am grateful.
Todd

4273x268

Not wanting to steel any part of this thread but have the same NO electrical power in 68. Here is what happened went to start it after it was stored over winter. Hooked up battery dome light worked seat belt light worked all working fine, then went to start it and starter went for 1/4-1/2 sec then dead as well as NO electrical power at all. Battery is good. When got out of shed noticed the starter as well as the whole underneath of car was wet ? Any suggestions on where to start would be great .Also if fuseable link went or what else would cause this given the wetness where to start and suggestions thanks in advance.

derekderek

start with the batt terminals and the frame grounds. they will give you a couple of seconds of life after a long nap then go all open circuit on you. especially the neg terminal if underside was wet. AND figure out where the wet came from before you let that car back in there...

C3Todd

Replaced the engine wiring harness today. As I removed the old “harness” I found that all the fuse-able links were missing....and far too many crazy splices and old repairs. The cost of the harness was nothing compared with the amount of time I would have spent in the future chasing down other electrical issues. Not the worlds most difficult job either.